I had lunch yesterday with a Republican friend who told me his wife has been diagnosed with a serious illness and although the doctors caught it early, the immediate future is full of tests and uncertainties. “At least we will Medicare,” he said. “She turns 65 in the summer and will be covered by Medicare for most of her treatment.”
“But,” I said, “You and your party were opposed to Medicare; it was and is a socialist program, don’t forget. It is unacceptable.”
“Yeah, well, I’m glad we failed,” my Republican friend said, smiling..
Today, I wouldn’t blame President Obama if he pulled the health care bill under consideration and told Republicans and those who think they might be Republican, “You’re on your own. When the insurance companies keep raising premiums by 18-20% a year, you’re on your own. When you can’t find a doctor who takes Medicare patients, you’re on your own. When you find you must stop buying bread to assure the pharmaceutical companies enjoy 400% profit on life saving drugs, you’re on your own.”
“Well, wait a minute,” said the Republican. “I don’t think he ought to go that far. We do need health care reform, just not Obama’s health care reform.”
The election in Massachusetts yesterday notwithstanding, the current debate is NOT about health care reform or whether it has done secretively or heavy handed, etc.
IT IS ABOUT THE POWER – ONLY THE POWER. DEMOCRATS HAVE IT; REPUBLICANS DON’T…AND THAT IS SIMPLY UNACCEPTABLE TO THE REPUBLICANS. Therefore, they object to everything, even much needed health care reform, because THEY MUST HAVE THE POWER BACK. NEVER MIND THE PEOPLE. “WHO CARES ABOUT THE PEOPLE? WHO CARES ABOUT GOVERNING? WE DON’T. WE MUST HAVE THE POWER.”
The truth is our government depends on shared power in order to succeed. I am now convinced the best arrangement of votes in the Senate is 50 Democrats, 50 Republicans. Such balance promotes a bipartisan approach to every issue. Nothing will pass, in other words without a few votes from the other side, and that is always a good thing.
When we have 60 votes in one party, or 70, there is no incentive for the minority to work with the majority. Their view is they have nothing to gain in such an imbalance and therefore, to oppose everything, regardless of how much the country might benefit, is to help restore the balance they seek, if not the power they crave.
The filibuster exists to protect the views of the minority from being steamrolled by an unbridled majority. It works. The Republicans are enjoying its use today. But they are a shortsighted bunch. When they get back in power – and they will – they will try again to get rid of the filibuster rule, because it will again block their attempts to control all aspects of government. That’s not a representative democracy, that’s a dictatorship which they would know if they ever read the Constitution.
Not enough of the American people understand how the Republican party manipulates their thinking with their Simple Simon approach to complex issues.
“Just balance the federal budget; I have to balance mine at home.” (Yes but you are not responsible for the welfare and common defense of 322 million people.)
“Banks got their bailout, where’s mine?” (You got yours when the banks did not go belly up. If government had let them sink in their own mire, you would be out of a job not just for a few months, but for many years.)
“Government is just too big. We need to vote for someone who will reduce it.” (We are not a nation of 4 million people anymore. Our government will never be small again because it must, of necessity, grow in order to meet the needs of 322 million people. It is pure demagoguery to suggest we can succeed with a smaller government or by cutting taxes without a commensurate cut in spending. In addition to promoting the common welfare here at home, our government takes the lead in solving political disputes worldwide and meeting every natural disaster worldwide with immediate assistance, because we are an interrelated community of souls on this planet and our Judeo-Christian ethic teaches us we are our neighbor’s keeper. Knowing that, almost all other nations on this planet look to us for global leadership.
So, this is not about the defeat of the Democratic woman in Massachusetts or the election of the most junior Republican member of the US Senate. This is about the power. This is not about the people, as it should be. This is about the power. And that, to me, is very sad. We cannot survive for very long unless we change that view by electing new members who have actually read the Constitution and understand their role is to represent the best interests of the people, not their own, not their party, not some narrow interest – but the people’s interest.
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